| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed. | 1What sorrow awaits you Assyrians, who have destroyed others but have never been destroyed yourselves. You betray others, but you have never been betrayed. When you are done destroying, you will be destroyed. When you are done betraying, you will be betrayed. |
| 2O LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for You. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble. | 2But LORD, be merciful to us, for we have waited for you. Be our strong arm each day and our salvation in times of trouble. |
| 3The peoples flee the thunder of Your voice; the nations scatter when You rise. | 3The enemy runs at the sound of your voice. When you stand up, the nations flee! |
| 4Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts; like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it. | 4Just as caterpillars and locusts strip the fields and vines, so the fallen army of Assyria will be stripped! |
| 5The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. | 5Though the LORD is very great and lives in heaven, he will make Jerusalem his home of justice and righteousness. |
| 6He will be the sure foundation for your times, a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure. | 6In that day he will be your sure foundation, providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD will be your treasure. |
| 7Behold, their valiant ones cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly. | 7But now your brave warriors weep in public. Your ambassadors of peace cry in bitter disappointment. |
| 8The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. The treaty has been broken, the witnesses are despised, and human life is disregarded. | 8Your roads are deserted; no one travels them anymore. The Assyrians have broken their peace treaty and care nothing for the promises they made before witnesses. They have no respect for anyone. |
| 9The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves. | 9The land of Israel wilts in mourning. Lebanon withers with shame. The plain of Sharon is now a wilderness. Bashan and Carmel have been plundered. |
| 10“Now I will arise,” says the LORD. “Now I will lift Myself up. Now I will be exalted. | 10But the LORD says: “Now I will stand up. Now I will show my power and might. |
| 11You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble. Your breath is a fire that will consume you. | 11You Assyrians produce nothing but dry grass and stubble. Your own breath will turn to fire and consume you. |
| 12The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and set ablaze. | 12Your people will be burned up completely, like thornbushes cut down and tossed in a fire. |
| 13You who are far off, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge My might.” | 13Listen to what I have done, you nations far away! And you that are near, acknowledge my might!” |
| 14The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?” | 14The sinners in Jerusalem shake with fear. Terror seizes the godless. “Who can live with this devouring fire?” they cry. “Who can survive this all-consuming fire?” |
| 15He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil— | 15Those who are honest and fair, who refuse to profit by fraud, who stay far away from bribes, who refuse to listen to those who plot murder, who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong— |
| 16he will dwell on the heights; the mountain fortress will be his refuge; his food will be provided and his water assured. | 16these are the ones who will dwell on high. The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress. Food will be supplied to them, and they will have water in abundance. |
| 17Your eyes will see the King in His beauty and behold a land that stretches afar. | 17Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor, and you will see a land that stretches into the distance. |
| 18Your mind will ponder the former terror: “Where is he who tallies? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?” | 18You will think back to this time of terror, asking, “Where are the Assyrian officers who counted our towers? Where are the bookkeepers who recorded the plunder taken from our fallen city?” |
| 19You will no longer see the insolent, a people whose speech is unintelligible, who stammer in a language you cannot understand. | 19You will no longer see these fierce, violent people with their strange, unknown language. |
| 20Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander; its tent pegs will not be pulled up, nor will any of its cords be broken. | 20Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals. You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure. It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut and whose stakes are firmly fixed. |
| 21But there the Majestic One, our LORD, will be for us a place of rivers and wide canals, where no galley with oars will row, and no majestic vessel will pass. | 21The LORD will be our Mighty One. He will be like a wide river of protection that no enemy can cross, that no enemy ship can sail upon. |
| 22For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our King. It is He who will save us. | 22For the LORD is our judge, our lawgiver, and our king. He will care for us and save us. |
| 23Your ropes are slack; they cannot secure the mast or spread the sail. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided, and even the lame will carry off plunder. | 23The enemies’ sails hang loose on broken masts with useless tackle. Their treasure will be divided by the people of God. Even the lame will take their share! |
| 24And no resident of Zion will say, “I am sick.” The people who dwell there will be forgiven of iniquity. | 24The people of Israel will no longer say, “We are sick and helpless,” for the LORD will forgive their sins. |
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